Naruto: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 238: When Did Things Start Going Wrong for Konoha?

Whistling sounds pierced the air.

Suspended in mid-air with no footing, the Three-Tails could only watch as Deidara's dozen or so clay twin-winged birds flew rapidly toward its only unarmored spot near its eyes.

Deidara shouted loudly.

A flash of white light from the birds.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out in succession.

As the smoke cleared, the Three-Tails, hit directly, was knocked out cold by the blast's impact.

Deidara then threw out three more giant clay birds, which hooked onto the Three-Tails from front, back, and sides, lifting it into the air, with Kisame in tow.

"Capture of the Three-Tails complete. That was pretty easy, hm."

On the clay bird, Deidara, without breaking a sweat, flipped his golden ponytail and spread his hands.

Hearing this, Kisame shook his wet clothes: "It was easy for you. I had to tussle with that thing down there for quite a while."

"Well, the Three-Tails is a turtle, and water is your domain," Deidara laughed cheerfully. "Now that you've met your quota for capturing tailed beasts, I still have one more to go. According to the clan leader, our new boss, my next target is the One-Tail. Hm."

"The One-Tail?" Kisame was slightly taken aback. "That one's not easy to handle. He's the Kazekage of the Sand Village and rarely leaves the village. To take him down, you'd have to deal with thousands of Sand ninja."

Deidara patted the head of the clay bird in front of him confidently: "That's why the One-Tail is my target."

Kisame looked at the clay bird and revealed an understanding expression: "Indeed, it's most fitting for you to capture the One-Tail. But I won't be teaming up with you."

Kisame was a straightforward person, whether it came to forming seals or capturing tailed beasts. If he had the capacity, he didn't mind helping his teammates.

However, the future battle mode between Deidara and the One-Tail's jinchuriki wouldn't suit him, so his presence wouldn't be useful.

Deidara waved his hand nonchalantly: "I heard a new member will join and team up with me to deal with the One-Tail. Who'd have thought, I'm going to be a senior now. Hm!"

"A newcomer?"

Kisame hadn't heard this news.

But anyone who could gain Hagoromo Gengetsu's approval wouldn't be weak.

That was good.

The faster they captured the tailed beasts, the sooner the world he envisioned would come.

Deidara and Kisame left gracefully with the Three-Tails.

Leaving behind a group of soaking wet Konoha ninja who could only watch everything in a daze.

"That's impossible! That's a tailed beast! And they captured it so easily?"

Kiba Inuzuka couldn't believe his eyes.

He had witnessed the terrifying power of the rampaging Three-Tails firsthand.

Even with Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato, two jonin, their Konoha team could do nothing against the Three-Tails.

Yet those two people!

They had been here for how long? And they had successfully captured the Three-Tails.

Are the Akatsuki that powerful?!!

How do they compare to the Five Kage?

Kiba felt like his eyes were opened.

Not just him, all the Konoha genin had similar thoughts.

Though some had seen Hagoromo Gengetsu fight, he was a famous figure from the Warring States period, so no matter how powerful, it wasn't surprising.

But the Akatsuki.

They hadn't had much contact with this organization, and the Akatsuki hadn't yet fully displayed their strength as in the original story.

In their understanding, it was just a group of rogue ninjas.

Since when did rogues become so formidable?

This was beyond their comprehension.

By comparison, Kakashi, who had fought the Akatsuki members and knew how tricky they were, wasn't too shocked.

Watching the giant figure of the Three-Tails gradually turn into a black dot, he frowned:

"The Three-Tails have been captured, things are getting more complicated."

The tension between the Five Great Shinobi Villages and Hagoromo Gengetsu's forces was escalating.

The Akatsuki was continuing to capture the tailed beasts.

And then there was Orochimaru...

Kakashi glanced around.

After the commotion with the Three-Tails and the Akatsuki, not only had Hanare vanished, but Orochimaru's subordinates were also nowhere to be seen.

This mission had yielded no results.

"When did it start feeling like everything Konoha does is going wrong?"

Kakashi suddenly had this realization.

"Kakashi-senpai, what do we do now?" Yamato's voice brought him back.

Kakashi refocused and calmly said, "Report the Three-Tails' capture to the village. Until new orders from the Hokage arrive, split into two teams and continue tracking Hanare and Orochimaru's trail."

Under Kakashi's orders, the Konoha team moved out again.

But they were destined to fail.

Hanare would soon rendezvous with Hagoromo Gengetsu.

As for Orochimaru, Guren, Yūkimaru, and Gozu had already left.

"Sister Guren, where are we going?" Yūkimaru, who always longed for a real home, looked at Guren expectantly.

Guren patted Yūkimaru's head, taking one last look in the direction of Orochimaru's base.

Compared to Orochimaru, Yūkimaru had become the most important person to her.

"We're going to find a real home for us."

Guren said, leading Yūkimaru and the loyal Gozu far away.

Orochimaru's forces were now completely dismantled.

Some people die, but their legacy continues to illuminate others.

The last person who selflessly contributed was Danzo, now it was Orochimaru.

After sending Orochimaru and Kabuto on their way, Hagoromo Gengetsu returned to Orochimaru's base to start a thorough cleanup.

There were quite a few instruments in Orochimaru's base, but they were inferior to the Root base backed by Konoha's vast resources.

What truly caught Hagoromo Gengetsu's interest were Orochimaru's research notes.

Especially on the Reanimation.

Hagoromo Gengetsu found relevant human tissues and even some of Orochimaru's insights on the technique in a scroll.

Although not the complete training content of the Reanimation.

It provided significant inspiration for him.

"The Reanimation... I have a team that's perfect for this technique. However..."

As Hagoromo Gengetsu pondered, information suddenly came from his Zero Ring.

"The Three-Tails have been successfully captured."

Now, only the One-Tail, Two-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails remained.

Hagoromo Gengetsu's eyes gleamed.

Storing the relevant data on the Reanimation, he sent the location of the Gedo Statue to Deidara and Kisame, then resumed his unfinished work.

A while later, Hanare arrived.

Handing over her tasks to her, Hagoromo Gengetsu used the Phantom Lamp Body Technique.

In an instant.

His multicolored projection appeared on the fingers of the Gedo Statue.

At the same time, Deidara and Kisame arrived with the gigantic Three-Tails.